Expand Networks Introduces WAFS and CIFS Acceleration to Enable Server Consolidation

Business Wire, August 1, 2005

ROSELAND, N.J. -- Expand's Multi-Service Platform Bridges Corporate Requirements for IT Simplification and Cost Reduction while Preserving LAN-Like Application Response Times for Remote Users

Expand Networks, a leader in application acceleration over the wide area network (WAN), announced today that it has added Wide Area File Services (WAFS) and Common Internet File System (CIFS) acceleration to the company's core Accelerator(TM) platform to enable consolidation of distributed file servers while maintaining LAN-like application response times for remote users.

Expand Networks also announced today three new hardware platforms - the Accelerator 4920, 6910 and 6940 Series. These platforms incorporate hard disk technology that enables disk-based content caching as well as the new WAFS capabilities.

Expand Wide Area File Services Addresses Server Consolidation Concerns

"60 percent of enterprises have a server consolidation project underway with another 28 per cent looking into consolidation(a)," noted Joe Skorupa, Research Director at Gartner. "The economic benefits of consolidation are very real but can only be reaped if application performance delivered to remote users remains satisfactory."

Expand's new WAFS offering addresses the key performance, availability and management issues raised by server consolidation:

--LAN-like application performance: With Expand's acceleration architecture a replicated copy of the file is kept in the remote cache thereby maintaining LAN-like performance for file transfers.

--'Virtual-Server': Expand's new WAFS offer retains critical remote branch system services such as: DNS, DHCP, and print.

--Addressing 'WAN-Outs': In the event of a network outage, remote users can continue working because files are served from a local cache.

--Flexible and Scalable: Expand offers enterprises the option to deploy WAFS for server consolidation either as a standalone option or packaged with other integrated services for a holistic approach to WAN application performance management.

--Managing WAN Accelerators over Servers- Expand's WAN Accelerators are packaged with a centralized management tool that auto-configures, monitors and reports on Accelerators deployed across the distributed network. Unlike server management, there is no need for IT personnel to manage Accelerators in the remote office.

British Bakeries, an Expand customer, is planning to centralize its remote servers within the next year. "We have been very happy with Expand's core WAN optimization, monitoring and QoS capabilities and now we are very excited about the new WAFS and CIFS acceleration because the combination will help us centralize our data sources without compromising the remote user experience," commented Peter Mead, Divisional Chief Technology Manager at British Bakeries. "Expand has made it very easy for us to migrate to new hardware platforms in order to leverage its complete set of rich WAN services."

One Platform, Multiple Services- A Holistic Approach

This announcement supports Expand's ongoing commitment to offer comprehensive platforms for distributed enterprise networks:

--WAN Optimization (compression and caching)

--Application and Protocol Acceleration (Web, TCP, MAPI, Citrix, CIFS)

--Layer 7 QoS, Centralized Monitoring and Management

--Wide Area File Services

"Expand is delivering on our vision to offer a 'multi-service' branch office platform," noted Amir Chitayat, President at Expand Networks. "Today WAFS and CIFS acceleration is pivotal to server consolidation and collaboration so Expand has integrated the best technology in the market from DiskSites to address this need. We will continue to add more services to our platform and in doing so we are positioned to address the next big IT challenge with our open architecture that allows us to seamlessly integrate new organic or third party application acceleration services. It is all about future-proofing the customer's investments."

Leveraging a Linux-based open platform has allowed Expand to quickly deploy additional services, by integrating key modules from DiskSites, a WAFS technology based company. "Expand's best of breed approach better addresses the needs of the branch office of tomorrow," commented Amir Shaked, CEO of DiskSites. "With four million branch offices across the globe, the combined offering provides real benefits to our customers and prospects, while also increasing the market available to both companies."

New Accelerator Hardware Platforms

With the integration of WAFS and CIFS acceleration, Expand is also announcing three new hardware platforms.

--Accelerator 4920 Series: A remote branch device supporting WAN speeds of up to 2Mbps, 10 remote sites and has a 160GB of hard drive capacity. Pricing begins at US$4,495 and is currently in beta.

--Accelerator 6910 Series: A device geared for the smaller regional data center supporting WAN speeds of up to 10Mbps, 50 remote sites and has a 500GB hard drive capacity. Pricing begins at US$11,995 and is currently in beta.